Thibault Defert sits in his racecar in the shelter of his team’s pit garage. His only immutable belief in life is that he was destined to be right here. Now, he would rather be anywhere else.

Born weeks apart, Julep and Ellis were playmates from the start and had been classmates through 10th grade.

Ensconced in bed reading his history textbook, Delphus McManus was startled when the phone rang.

‘What shall we do with the body?’ The other one rubbed his chin. ‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, eh?

Emma nervously entered the classroom and found an empty desk while she felt the burning power of a hundred sets of eyes staring. She expected the teasing and giggles, but she didn’t expect silence.

The thunder in the rolling blanket of clouds marked a season of cleansing, a time of remembrance. It was also a time of death. The Sailor knew that well.

If there was one thing Alex knew about JP by now, it was that the elaboration of a keenly held opinion wouldn’t be far away. And so it proved.

Zena could hardly believe that she was on a plane, gazing down over the North Island. Everything she knew about New Zealand came from Luke’s photographs and postcards: sparkling lagoons, snow-capped mountains and silver ferns.

Once there was a man named Frederick Alarcy who lived and died. He left a widow and two strong sons, and they lived through their grief on the slopes of Broken Pine Tor

It hadn't occurred to Seb not to come, to ignore the unexpected and frankly bizarre bequest. It was too late to turn back now...

Paulo’s muted tongue was as dry as the arctic air, and his heart just as cold. The blood from the knife dripped carelessly onto the pavement.

Knowing the day, you will die is strange. It filled me with a sort of anxious expectance until today. Now I just want it to be over with.

The ground shuttered. The earth split. And foul gases, detritus, and splintered rock erupted into the jungle like spew from a volcano. And the worm inched closer to the world above, the open air and the scorching humidity of the Brazilian rainforest.

It was the early evening in the small farming community of Sunlight County when the stranger came knocking.

As expected on a Monday morning, the clinic’s waiting room was crowded. There were a few old couples who were quiet, with the wives generally reading and the husbands looking around or watching TV.